■BASKETBALL
Stumbling Artest concussed
Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest tripped over a box and fell down a flight of stairs at his home on Christmas night, suffering a concussion and left elbow injury, the team said on Saturday. Hours after being outplayed by Cleveland’s LeBron James and fouling out with only 13 points in a 102-87 loss to the Cavaliers on Friday, Artest suffered injuries that required stitches on his elbow and the back of his head. It’s unknown when Artest might return to the defending NBA champions lineup.
■ICE HOCKEY
Alfredsson out for 4-6 weeks
Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, a key player in Sweden’s 2006 Olympic gold medal run, will be out four to six weeks with a separated left shoulder that could jeopardize his Olympic hopes for next year. The Senators announced late on Saturday that Alfredsson will join a huge injury list for the club, possibly missing every game until the NHL’s February break for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The 37-year-old right wing figures to be a stalwart on the Swedish team and should be back in time for the Olympics, but his longest recovery time would bring him back barely a week before the Olympic final roster deadline.
■ICE HOCKEY
Russian star inks new deal
One day after being named in the Russian Olympic squad, Washington Capitals left wing Alexander Semin inked a one-year contract extension with the National Hockey League club. The 25-year-old playmaker, who together with countryman Alex Ovechkin have led the Capitals to the NHL’s highest point total so far this season, has 122 career goals and 126 assists in five NHL seasons. “He’s one of the elite players in the league and to have him is great,” Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. Semin, who will now become an unrestricted free agent after the 2010-2011 season, has 32 points in 20 games this season. “I am extremely happy to sign,” Semin said through a translator. “I like this team. I really like everything here.” Washington selected Semin 13th overall in the 2002 NHL Draft and he has grown into a star in his own right alongside Ovechkin, the NHL’s Most Valuable Player the past two seasons.
■SKIING
World champ suffers injury
Austrian world champion Kathrin Zettel suffered a right knee injury in training on Saturday and is doubtful for the World Cup giant slalom and slalom in Linz today and tomorrow. The 23-year-old, world champion in the combined, damaged ligaments in her knee, said the Austrian skiing federation. Zettel currently leads the giant slalom standings, but is still searching for her first win after three podium places in the giant and one in the slalom.
■FIGURE SKATING
Champ sets new world best
Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko set a new world best total mark of 271.59 points to win his eighth domestic title at the Russian championships. The 27-year-old scored 171.50 points for his free skating performance, skating to Tango Amore by Edwin Marton at St Petersburg’s Jubilee ice palace. “I can mark my performance with three points of five — maximum,” Plushenko said as he geared up for the next year’s European Championships as well as another Olympics assault in Vancouver in February. “I was practicing only one week before the Russian championships. Now I need to rehabilitate completely ahead of the European championships to gain my top form for the Olympics.”
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
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